Turn Her Faith Around
by Dimunda
Summary: Ash and the gang hear rumors about a 12 year old girl who is a pokemon thief. People call her the Black Phantom. Ash and the others encounter her, and their lives are now involved in hers. What is with the Black Phantom and why is she a pokemon thief? R
1. Black Phantom

_A report of a lone 12 year old girl, who steals pokemon, are getting more and more reports everyday. People have decided to give her the name of the Black Phantom, for she wears completely black. This young trainer is believed to be using black poke balls to capture her victims' pokemon. Trainers are to be told to be careful of this girl, for she may be young, but she has already stolen ten pokemon! No one knows where she hides them for she can't carry all of them, but if anyone spots her, they are to report her to the local authorities. Thank you._

The T.V then turned off. Ash, Dawn, and Brock were sitting on a couch, in the main room of a pokemon center. Ash had turned off the T.V with the remote. Dawn gave off a shiver and said, "Gosh, I wouldn't want to come across her." Brock looked at Ash and said, "Yeah. She's about the same age as you Ash and she's already stolen ten pokemon!" Ash got up and said, "Yeah I know. It's weird. Well let's go." Brock stood up, but Dawn yelled, "Are you crazy?! What if we come across her?!" Ash laughed and said, "Dawn we'll be ok. Come on." They then left out of Floroma Town. They were all alone on a road, when they saw a figure come up the road. Ash and the others stopped, as the figure got closer. They saw that the figure wore a black scarf around its mouth, long black sleeved shirt, and black pants. The person had long black hair that was tied up in a ponytail. They figured out it was a girl. On the girl's shoulder, was a dark yellow Pikachu. When the girl reached the gang, she pointed to Ash and said, "You! Hand over your pokemon!" Ash looked at her angrily and yelled, "Why should I?!" Pikachu shot sparks out of its cheeks. The Pikachu on the girls shoulder showed its teeth, and shot sparks out of its cheeks as well. The girl looked at the Pikachu and said, "Calm down, Thunder. We'll get them." Dawn, who was holding Piplup, asked, "Why do you want Ash's pokemon?" The girl then turned her attention to Piplup. Dawn turned scared, and Piplup jumped out of her arms, to Ash's front. Piplup started talking in an angry voice. Thunder, the Pikachu, smiled at her trainer.

They couldn't see it, but the trainer smiled back. She then pulled something out of her pocket. It was a black poke ball. Ash yelled, "Dawn, she's the Black Phantom!" Dawn then started to scurry over to her Piplup. The girl threw the black ball, saying, "You're too late." The black poke ball then reached Piplup, and Piplup disappeared inside it. The poke ball then flew to the girl. She looked at the poke ball and said, "This pokemon might be useful." And then put it in her belt. Dawn cried, "Give me back my Piplup!" They then heard the girl laugh. She then reached out her hand to her scarf. She then yanked it off, and gave it to Thunder. Ash saw that the girl had ocean blue eyes. Her face was tan, as probably with the rest of her body. The girl said, "Not a chance. This Piplup is mine now." She then looked at Ash, who was staring at her angrily. The girl asked, "You're not going to help your friend? Pitiful!" Pikachu barked at her and jumped off of Ash's shoulder. Ash made a fist. Thunder saw this, smiled, and jumped down from her trainer's shoulder. The girl said, "No, Thunder. Let's let Icee do this." Thunder looked a little disappointed, but went to stand by the girl's side. The girl pulled out a blue poke ball, threw it, and yelled, "Icee, let's show these amateurs what battling is all about!" Out of the poke ball, came a very light blue Vaporeon. You could swear it was white, but its eyes were as dark as coal. Icee smiled at Pikachu. Ash smiled and said, "This will be an easy battle. Pikachu, quick attack!" Pikachu then ran towards the Vaporeon, who stood its ground. The Phantom said, "Icee, wait…..Now!" Right when Pikachu was nose to nose with the pokemon, Icee dodged before Pikachu could do any damage. Everyone gasped at the quick speed of the Vaporeon. Pikachu then landed in front of Ash and the Vaporeon did the same, except by her trainer. Ash yelled, "Let's finish this, Pikachu! Use Volt Tackle!" Pikachu then started to run. Phantom yelled, "Icee, ice tackle!" Ash yelled, "What's that?!" Icee smiled and started to run. Soon she was covered by ice spears as she ran. Finally, Icee and Pikachu collided, and an explosion came. Ash saw Pikachu come out of the smoke, and caught him. No one saw the Vaporeon come out, so it was still in the explosion. When the smoke cleared away, everyone gasped. There Icee was, looking like not a scratch had been on it. The Phantom smiled and said, "Looks like I win. Come, Icee. Let's take our new trophy home." Icee smiled and walked over to her trainer. Ash heard Dawn cry. As the Phantom turned and started to walk away, Ash yelled, "Wait!" The Phantom turned around and asked, "Yes what is it?" Ash looked at her, furious, but asked, "What is your name?" The Phantom smiled as she pulled out her scarf. She said, "It's Crystal." She smiled, put on the scarf, and started to walk away, but fell to her knees. She was holding her stomach and screaming in pain. They saw her cough, blood then suddenly covered the brown, dirt ground. Dawn looked at her, wiping away the tears. Crystal started to pull something out of her pocket. It was a black poke ball. She threw it into the air and yelled, "Re-Release!" Out of the dark poke ball, came Dawn's Piplup. Dawn caught it in her arms, and hugged the pokemon tightly.

Ash still stared angrily at Crystal, who was starting to cry in pain. Ash saw for the first time, Thunder look worried, instead of ferocious or intimidating. Her trainer was now facing flat on the ground, still holding onto her stomach, coughing up much more blood. Thunder was trying to pick her up. Ash stood up and said, "Let's go." Dawn then smacked him upside the head. Ash turned around and yelled, "What was that for?!" Dawn was furious. She yelled, "You're just going to leave her here?! She could be seriously hurt Ash Ketchum!" Ash turned back around, turning his back on her, and said, "But she stole your pokemon!" "And then she gave him back!" "Pikaa!" He was surprised to see his buddy angry at him. Pikachu jumped off of his shoulders and ran over to Thunder. When he got to her Thunder was crying. Pikachu patted her back. Thunder than started to talk. Dawn asked, "I wonder what they're saying." They then heard footsteps and turned to see Team Rocket. Ash yelled, "What are you three doing here?!" Jessie said, "Don't worry twerp, we're too hungry to fight." Dawn then smiled and walked over to Meowth. She said, "Meowth can you tell us what that Pikachu over there is saying?" Meowth turned his attention to the crying and talking Pikachu. Meowth's eyes widened. Brock asked, "What is it Meowth?" Meowth replied, "That Pikachu, her buddy, says that she has been seriously sick since they met. She refuses to take her medicine. She says if she doesn't get to a Pokemon Center soon, she could die." Ash's eyes widened and so did the other's. Dawn didn't wait. She walked over to the girl and put an arm over her shoulder. Crystal's eyes opened and stared at Dawn. She asked, "Why do you help me?" Dawn started to move, saying, "You can't be all bad. Besides we can't leave you to die here." Crystal's eyes widened. She stared at Dawn, but then realized somebody else grabbed her other arm, and placed it over their shoulder. She turned to see Ash. She smiled and said, "I thought you were going to leave me." Ash grunted as they pulled her. He said, "Like Dawn said, it wouldn't be right to leave you here." Crystal stared at Ash, and smiled. Then she winced at the pain.

Dawn asked, "Exactly what's wrong?" Crystal looked at her and said, "The doctor I went to long ago said it was a type of cancer, but they don't know what kind yet. I've had it for 6 years, taking medicine for it. It tastes disgusting." She stuck out her tongue at the last sentence. Brock was walking by when he heard her say that. He said, "It may, but it also helps you."

Minutes later they found themselves at the pokemon center. Ash and the others were in the waiting room. Pikachu was trying to cheer up Thunder, and it seemed to be working. Thunder got along well with Pikachu. Thunder was then curled up by Pikachu. She nuzzled against Pikachu's cheek, making Pikachu blush, and a jealous Buneary mad. Dawn was stroking a sleeping Pachirisu. She said, "I hope Crystal's ok." Brock nodded his head. Another minute later Nurse Joy came out, a smile on her face. Ash shot up and asked, "Is she ok?" Nurse Joy smiled and said, "She didn't cooperate when I tried to give her the medicine, but then I said, 'Your friends will be upset if you don't.' She then got quiet and took the medicine without hesitation." Ash smiled and said, "That's great." "Not quite." Ash turned around to see Officer Jenny.


	2. Crystal's Pokemon

Ash asked, "Officer Jenny, what's up?" Officer Jenny looked behind her to see her Luxray. Ash asked, while pulling out his pokedex, "What is that?" The pokedex replied, "Luxray, the gleam eye pokemon. Fully evolved form of Shinx. When its eyes flash it can see through objects, making prey hiding, very easy to find." "Luxray," the pokemon said deeply. Jenny turned back to Ash and said, "We have suspicion that the Black Phantom is resting here." Nurse Joy walked up and said, "The only new comer here is a sick girl named Crystal." Ash gulped. Jenny heard and said, "You…." She pointed to Ash. She said, "Is that her?" Ash thought about it. _Aww man. They will take her in if I say yes, but if I say no, Crystal will keep stealing pokemon. What should I do? _"Young man?" Ash snapped out of it to see Jenny staring at him. She asked, "Is she the Phantom or not?" Ash looked at the gang. Dawn looked worried. He then looked at Thunder. She was shaking her head, pleadingly. Ash then turned back to Jenny and said, "No ma'am. That's not her." Jenny smiled and said, "Thank you for your cooperation. Let's go Luxray." The pokemon nodded its head and they left the pokemon center. Ash gave a great big sigh. Nurse Joy then said, "Oh before I forget. Ash, Crystal said she would like to see you. Oh and to bring your Pikachu and her Pikachu with you." Joy looked at the others and said, "She said she'll see you later. Right now she just wants to see Ash." Ash blinked confusingly. Pikachu and Thunder then climbed on his shoulders, and Nurse Joy led them to Crystal's room.

When they got in there, Thunder immediately jumped into Crystal's bed. She nuzzled against Crystal's cheek. Crystal said, "Thunder, I'm alright. Come on!" Nurse Joy started to shut the door, and said, "I'll leave you four alone. I'm going to go get more medicine for your journey Crystal." Crystal stuck her tongue out in disgust. Nurse Joy laughed and left the room. Crystal then jumped right up, walked to the window, and opened it. Thunder gave her the black scarf, which Crystal tied around her mouth. "Thanks Thunder." The Pikachu saluted her. As she started out the window, Ash yelled, "Wait!" Crystal turned around and said, "Now what?" Crystal looked into Ash's eyes and he looked into hers. He asked, "Where are you going?" Crystal smiled and said, "That I can't tell you." Ash asked, "But what about your medicine?" Crystal said, "It tastes disgusting anyway. See yah." Ash yelled, "Just one more question!" Crystal sighed and said, "One more. What is it?" Ash stared into her eyes. He asked, "Why do you steal pokemon?" Crystal's eyes widened. She turned away, and frowned. She said, "I told you my name, and that is a more dangerous question then this one, but I won't make the mistake of telling you that. Good-bye Ash. We might meet again." As she turned around, Ash yelled, "So the pokemon you battle with aren't yours! You just stole them from hard working trainers and call them your own." This made Crystal mad. She turned and looked at Ash, fire blazing in her eyes. She yelled, "Don't EVER say that! The pokemon I use are mine and mine alone! The pokemon I steal….I don't keep them with me, just like the reporter on the television said." Ash yelled, "Well why do you steal them then?!" Crystal started to turn away.

Then, the door opened and Nurse Joy came in. She saw Crystal and gasped. She said, "Y-you are the Black Phantom." She dropped the medicine on the bed, and started to pick up the phone. Crystal yelled at Ash, "See what you've done?!" She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a poke ball. She threw it and yelled, "I need your ability, Einstein!" "Einstein?" Ash asked. Out of the poke ball came an Uxie! Ash asked, "What in the world?!" Nurse Joy gasped as she dropped the phone. As she reached for the door, Crystal yelled, "Einstein, shut that door!" The pokemon's body lit up as the door bolted shut. Nurse joy jiggled the door knob but it wouldn't open. Ash had pulled out his pokedex. It said, "Uxie, the knowledge pokemon. Only information on this pokemon is if anyone is to see their eyes, they will forget anything the pokemon chooses instantly. Only one person in the world is said to catch this pokemon and not forget it." Ash put the pokedex up and asked, "Let me guess, that person was you?" Crystal shrugged her shoulders and said, "Einstein has been with me since the beginning, along with Thunder." Einstein turned around and smiled at Crystal. Crystal looked at him and said, "Ok Einstein you know what to do. Make them forget us!" Einstein nodded his head and turned around to face the others. Then, Ash started to see his eyes open. Pikachu poked his cheeks to make him look at Thunder. Thunder showed them what she wanted to. She closed her eyes. Ash and Pikachu did the same. He then heard Nurse Joy scream and then everything went quiet. Ash then heard the window slam shut, and so he opened his eyes. He looked on the bed to see the medicine gone, and so was Crystal. Nurse Joy then asked, "Ash, where is Crystal?" Ash looked at her and said, "She left all ready." This was the truth. Nurse Joy said, "Well at least she took her medicine with her." Ash looked down and said, "Yeah."

Ash walked down the hall. He was talking to Pikachu. He said, "I just know there's some good in her. I mean, she didn't force us to forget her." "Pikaaachu." Pikachu nodded his head. Ash smiled and said, "Next time we see her, we'll steer her on the right path!" Pikachu nodded his head and smiled.

A week went by and there were multiple sightings of Black Phantom. News was that she was headed for Hearthrome City, the place Ash and the gang were headed. Ash couldn't stop thinking about Crystal. Ash was telling Dawn and Brock about her Uxie. Dawn said, "I've heard of that pokemon. There are suppose to be two others just like it, except a little different." Ash asked, "How?" Brock pulled out a book and read, "'There are three legendary pokemon that sleep in three lakes. Mesperit, Azelf, and Uxie are the legendary Lake Trio. Mesperit, the being of emotion, is said to live in Lake Verity. Azelf, the being of will power, said to live in Lake Valor. Finally there's Uxie, the being of knowledge, said to live in Lake Acuity.' Wow that's pretty good." Ash thought about what the pokedex said last week about Uxie. _Only one person in the world is said to catch this pokemon and not forget it._ "Help! Somebody help!" Ash said, "Someone's in trouble!" Dawn said, "Let's go!" They then ran to where the cry of 'help' was heard from.

They then found themselves by a boy and not surprisingly the Black Phantom. Dawn asked, "What's wrong?" The boy looked at her and said, "The Black Phantom stole my Arcanine!" Ash looked back to see the Phantom tossing a poke ball in the air. She threw it and yelled, "Magnezone, analyze this pokemon!" Out came the magnetic pokemon. A beam then scanned the black poke ball that was in the Phantom's hands. Then, the beam went away. The Phantom asked, "Well?" Magnezone shook his head. Phantom squeezed the poke ball. She threw it into the air, and yelled, "Release!" Out came the dog pokemon, who ran to his trainer. The Arcanine rubbed his head against the boy's. Phantom looked at the ground to her Pikachu and said, "Let's go, Thunder." Thunder nodded her head, but noticed Pikachu, and her eyes sparkled. Phantom noticed and turned around asking, "What is it?" She saw Ash and her eyes widened. She then looked at Thunder and said, "Let's go." When she turned around, she felt something grab her scarf. She turned back around to see Ash's Ambipom grab her scarf with one of his tails. Ambipom started to laugh at the joke. Ash said sternly, "Ambipom, you shouldn't have done that!" The pokemon frowned. He then turned back to Crystal to see people crowding her. They were saying, "Look it's the Phantom" and "Is that what she looks like?" Then Ash saw a purple haired boy walk up to her. It was Paul.

Ash heard him say, "Is this what all the fuss is about? This girl probably couldn't even battle." Ash said, "Uh oh. He shouldn't have said that." He then saw Thunder let of an electric attack, but Crystal grabbed her so the attack hit her. Crystal yelled in pain, so Thunder stopped. Crystal looked at the Pikachu and said, "Thunder, you know we don't attack humans." She then looked at Paul and said, "If you think that, then we should have a battle."

Paul held a poke ball and said, "That's what I was about to offer. Elekid, let's go!" Out came the yellow pokemon. Crystal held a poke ball, threw it, and yelled, "Let's go, Snowflake!" Out of the poke ball popped out a Buneary. "Bun Bun!" the pokemon said happily. "Elekid brick break!" "Dodge it Snow!" The pokemon did as they were told and moved. Elekid barely scratched Snowflake. As Elekid used brick break over and over again, and Buneary was sorta dancing while she dodged, Ash and the others got a close up view of the battle. "Snowflake, use blizzard!" Out of the little pokemon's mouth came a whole lot of snow. "Elekid dodge it!" Elekid did dodge it, but some snow froze its right leg. Elekid fell to the ground, and Snowflake bounced around happily. Crystal said, "Good job Snow!" The Buneary turned back to her and said, "Bun Buneary." Then a glow formed around Snowflake. Snowflake then started to get taller. Then the light vanished and in the place of the Buneary was a Lopunny. Dawn quickly pulled out her pokedex, which said, "Lopunny, the rabbit pokemon. The fluffy white fur at the end of Lopunny's ears can cover up its whole body when danger is near. Lopunny likes to take good care of this fur, and in general is very neat and tidy." "Looopunny," said the pokemon, soothingly. Dawn's Buneary stared at the beauty of the pokemon. Piplup looked at Buneary, and laughed, thus making Buneary slam him into the ground with one of her ears. Paul returned Elekid saying, "You better melt it off." Crystal yelled, "Snowflake, good job! Come back over here!" The Lopunny smiled and walked over to her trainer. Paul then threw another poke ball, yelling, "Murkrow, let's go!" Out came the black bird pokemon. Brock said, "Well that's five out of Crystal's six pokemon." Dawn nodded her head and replied, "Yeah, I wonder what the last one is." Ash nodded his head. Crystal held a poke ball in her hands and said, "Ok let's do our best." She then threw it and yelled, "Let's go, Rage!" Out of the poke ball came a long, and dark blue Dragonair. "Drag." The pokemon said calmly.


	3. Her Secret

Snowflake stared at Rage, sparkles in her eyes. "Rage, let's go with dragon pulse!" Rage nodded his head, turned to face Murkrow, and shot out a powerful mist looking attack. "Murkrow, dodge it." But Murkrow was too late. The attack hit the bird pokemon, making it faint instantly. Dawn's eyes widened and said, "Wow that's one powerful pokemon!" Brock nodded his head and replied, "Yeah, and you can tell she trained it hard." Dawn looked at him and asked, "You can?" Brock nodded his head and studied the Dragonair. He said, "You see when they're Dratini and you train them extra hard, when they evolve the Dragonair's skin is so much darker than usual." "Rage, come back over here." The Dragonair then slithered over to Crystal. Lopunny kept staring at Rage, which frankly, kinda scared him, but he tired to not pay attention. Paul returned Murkrow, saying, "Murkrow, I'll deal with you later." Paul then put the poke ball up and back into his belt. He then looked over to Crystal. Crystal looked at Thunder and said, "Thunder, you're up!" "Pikaa!" Thunder then jumped off of her shoulder and onto the battle field. Dawn asked, randomly, "I wonder why she chose to name it Thunder?" Crystal, who over heard her, replied, "You'll see soon."

Paul threw a poke ball, yelling, "Chimchar, let's go." Out of the poke ball came the fiery little chimp. Crystal gave him no time. As soon as Chimchar came out, she yelled, "Let's go, Thunder, use Volt Tackle!" Ash said, "Wow, what a way to start a battle." "Chimchar, dodge it!" Chimchar did so. "Turn now!" Paul's eyes widened, as he yelled, "What?!" Thunder smiled, turned off course, and hit Chimchar in the back. Chimchar flew to Paul's front, which made Paul yell, "Get up!" Chimchar weakly did so. Paul looked at Thunder, who was panting very hard. "Chimchar, flame wheel!" "Thunder, can you move?" It was too late anyway. Chimchar slammed itself into Thunder. Thunder flew back, and, of course, landed on her back. "Thunder, can you get up?" The Pikachu grunted as she stood up, but gave Crystal a thumbs up. Crystal smiled. She then looked back at Paul. Crystal smiled evilly and said, "Let's show these people why your name is Thunder. Let's go!" "Pikaaaa!" Thunder than started to use quick attack. Crystal turned to the crowd and said, "If I was you, I'd back up. This could get painful!" The people didn't say anything, and took a step back. Paul thought: _What is she up to? _ "Now, Thunder, go ahead and use thunder!" Thunder stopped in the middle of the field, skidding slightly on the ground, and let off a gigantic amount of electricity. The people were glad they took her warning. Chimchar was yelping in pain. "Thunder, that's enough." Thunder then immediately stopped. Chimchar then fell to the ground, obviously fainted. Crystal smiled at Thunder and said, "Great job, sweetie!" Thunder turned around, gave her a thumbs up, while saying, "Pi Pikachu!" Paul then returned Chimchar, saying, "Pathetic. Elekid, let's go!" He threw the poke ball and out again came the electric pokemon. "Thunder, you ok to keep going?" "Pikaaaaaa!" Crystal smiled and replied, "That's the spirit!"

"Elekid brick break, let's go!" Elekid than charged towards Thunder. "Thunder, dodge it!" Thunder did, but Elekid hit her in the right knee. Thunder than fell to the ground, kneeling on her right knee. "Thunder, you ok?" Thunder stood up weakly, nodding her head. "Elekid, again use brick break!" Elekid then made a direct hit to Thunder, who fainted. Crystal ran over to her, held her in her arms, and asked, "Thunder, are you ok?" "Pika." The Pikachu smiled at her. Crystal smiled back and said, "Good. You take a nice long rest, ok?" She placed Thunder into Snowflake's arms. She looked at Rage and said, "Let's finish this." The Dragonair nodded his head, and slithered to the field. "Elekid, brick break let's go!" As Elekid ran towards Rage, the dragon pokemon just stood still. Then, when Elekid was just a foot away, Crystal yelled, "Twister!" Rage blinked his eyes, and when they opened they were blue in light. "Dragooooon!" the pokemon yelled as a huge twister gathered up power. Then the twister rammed itself into Elekid, the little pokemon floating inside of it. As Elekid cried in pain, Crystal finally said, "That's enough, Rage." Rage's eyes stopped glowing and the twister stopped immediately. Elekid fell to the ground, fainted. The crowd cheered. Crystal looked at them and smiled. Her pokemon took bows, and she laughed. Ash ran up to her and said, "See, isn't it fun just to battle for fun?" Crystal looked at Ash. He said, "Come on, Crystal. Stop stealing. Please." Crystal said, "I'm sorry, but I can't." Ash yelled, "Why not?!" Crystal looked into his eyes, which were eager for answers, but she simply said, "I cannot-" "Don't tell me you can't!" Ash yelled, obviously knowing what she was going to say.

Without saying anything else about it, Crystal said, "Close your eyes. Tell your friends." She pulled out a poke ball. Ash looked at Dawn and Brock and yelled, "Guys, close your eyes." The crowd didn't hear, but Paul sure did. As he saw Ash and the gang close their eyes, he wondered why. Then, he saw Crystal send Uxie and remembered the legends, and closed his eyes as well. "Einstein, now!" he heard Crystal yell. A minute later, Crystal called, "Einstein, return." Ash and the others opened their eyes. Crystal sighed as she tightened her black scarf. She said, "It's a pity they won't remember the battle." She sighed again and said, "Oh well. That's how we roll. See you guys. I'm going home." As she started to walk, Ash got angry. He didn't know why, but he was angry. And with Crystal! She had done nothing…..yet. As she continued to walk, Ash threw a poke ball. Out of the poke ball, came his Staraptor. Ash bent down so he was eye level with the pokemon. He said, "Staraptor, I want you to follow that girl—" He pointed to Crystal-"To wherever she goes. When stops somewhere, stay a while and make sure she does not come out. Then, come find us, and lead us to her, okay?" The bird pokemon nodded its head, and headed off into the skies.

Many hours later

"Staraptor!" cried a pokemon. Ash looked up to see Staraptor circling in the air above. It was nearly midnight, and Ash smiled. He yelled at Staraptor, "Take us to her!" Staraptor nodded his head and flew north. Ash looked back at his friends, who were asleep. Pikachu climbed on Ash's shoulders. Ash looked at him and said, "I guess it's just you and me, Pikachu." Pikachu nodded his head and yawned slightly. Ash laughed but followed Staraptor into the night.

It took about thirty minutes till Staraptor stopped. Ash returned Staraptor, saying, "Thanks, Staraptor." He put the pokemon's poke ball back into his belt. Ash looked up, staring at an old beat up looking cabin. Ash heard Pikachu slightly snore on his head. He smiled. He picked his buddy up, and laid him on a bush. He smiled and started to turn, when he rammed into a group of Burmy and Mothim. The pokemon woke with a start and started to make a ruckus. Ash said, "Shh, shh please hush!" The Burmy climbed higher in the tree and the Mothim flew off, still making noise. Ash looked hurriedly at the small cabin to see a small light go on. Then, a figure immerged from the door. Ash could hear a child, and a Pikachu. The figure said, "I know, sweetie. I'll be right back, and Thunder will watch you while I'm gone." Ash hid behind a tree, as the figure closed the door. The figure called out, "Hello? Hello? Is anyone out there?" Then a group of Volbeat in nearby trees lit their tails, and light filled the area. Ash saw the figure's long, black hair reach down her back, her ocean eyes looking tired, and she wasn't wearing black. She wore a dark blue tank top with one strap over her right shoulder, and she was wearing white pants that covered over her feet. It was Crystal. She asked, "Hello? Anyone?" Ash gulped and stepped out into the light. When Crystal saw him she gasped. She yelled, "What're you doing here?! How did you find me?!" Ash smiled and said, "Staraptor led me here. I'm here to talk." Ash then stared at the house to hear a Pikachu make a noise, then a child laugh. Ash asked, "Who's that?" Crystal hurriedly said, "No one. Now leave." Ash said, "No way! Not till we talk." Crystal turned furious, and yelled, "I don't have time to talk! Now leave or I will force you to!" As she turned around Ash ran to her and took her hand. She turned to him, tugging, saying, "Let me go!" Ash dragged her away from the cabin, so as Thunder would not hear them. It was hard, considering Crystal was fighting, and hard. He finally got to where he held her down on a stump. She squirmed, and started to yell, but he covered her mouth before it could get loud.

She finally got to the point in where she calmed down. Ash took his hands off of her mouth. He stared at her. With her hair down, she looked beautiful. She said, "Ok hurry up. What do you need to know?" Ash said, "First off, who is in the house?" Crystal's face flushed. She thought and said, "M-my pokemon." Ash didn't look convinced. He said, "Aaaaannnnndddd….." Crystal shut her mouth, and looked to the ground. Ash waited patiently. He knew she was going to say something, and soon. Finally, after what seemed like 15 minutes, Crystal said, "My sister. She's inside with them." Ash looked at her face. Tears started to fall off of them. She continued, "She's sick, and I don't have the money to help for an operation. It's a lot of money and since…" She looked up at Ash's face "Our parent's are dead so I have to come up with the money. Think about it. A twelve year old girl making money. The only thing I can do is invent those blasted poke balls." Ash was confused, but some of it did make since, except… "What do you do to the pokemon you steal?" He thought of what the answer was, but wanted to hear it come out of her own mouth. She said ever so quietly, "I sell them." Ash was dumbfounded. He stood up and yelled, "How could you do that?! That is despicable!" Crystal shot up, tears flowing faster, and yelled, "You don't think I know that?! Don't you think I wake up in the middle of the night thinking what I'm doing is wrong?! I then remember it's for my six year old sister, who's on the verge of dying!" Crystal panted for yelling so loud. Ash felt bad. He had no idea why she was stealing and was angry cause she didn't tell him, but now she did tell him and he felt angry cause she did. He was so confused. She looked into his eyes, and he looked into hers. Finally, Ash said, "We can help. If you'd stop stealing we could help you. We could tell the doctors your parents are dead and you can't afford the operation." Crystal whispered, "Don't you think I've thought of that?" "Then why don't you?" asked Ash. She said, "Because they'll take her away from me. She is the only person I have left. The pokemon are my friends, sorta like my family, but she's my sister. I can't." Her eyes closed and her mouth trembled. Ash felt her pain. He didn't have any siblings, but somehow, he knew how she felt. As she continued to weep, her eyes remaining shut, Ash walked to her. When he reached her, he embraced her into a hug. He held her tightly. Her eyes opened with confusion, as she turned her head towards his. He then said, "Its ok. I'm so sorry." He then turned his head towards her face, her face still in confusion. He took his right hand from her back, and to her face. Her heart was beating so fast, he could feel it on his chest. His heart was racing too. He never felt this before. Crystal, besides her sister and her victims, had never been in real contact with another human for years. She had never felt this about anyone before. She wanted to think, but didn't have time to. As Ash moved his face closer, so did Crystal. She didn't care anymore about keeping this all a secret, but she knew that she'd have to wipe his mind of her sister, but it could wait. Before she even realized it, her lips were connected to Ash's. It was like this for a number of minutes. Finally, Crystal took her lips off of his. She backed away, reaching under her shirt. She whispered, "I'm really sorry." Ash stared as she revealed her belt. His eyes widened. He backed away, shaking his head, and saying, "No, don't do it. Please." It was his turn for shedding tears. Crystal's eyes shed more tears as she whispered, "I'm sorry." She threw a poke ball, saying, "Einstein, now." Ash couldn't close his eyes in time. The last thing he saw was the stare of two white eyes.


End file.
